The Occasional Dissident

“The society must be purified of these people.” - Holocaust denier and perhaps reelected Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (“Iranian Candidate Exhorts Protestors,” Washington Post, June 15, 2009) Dear citizens, we have to accept that the Washington Post may have erred in some degree in its translation of the remarks by the current and perhaps future Iranian President.  However, a leader who calls for the eradication of Israel and who pretends that the destruction of the Jewish minority in Nazi-controlled areas simply never happened is ... Read More

“After she finished speaking, I couldn’t resist the temptation to ask a question.  ‘You mentioned Mossadegh,’ I said.  ‘What do you remember, or what can you tell us, about the coup against him?’  She immediately became agitated and animated. “‘Why did you Americans do that terrible thing?’ she cried out.  ‘We always loved America.  To us, America was the great country, the perfect country, the country that helped us while other countries were exploiting us.  But after that moment, no one in Iran ... Read More